A childminder from the Drenthe town of Assen has been jailed for four years for shaking a baby in her charge to death last year.

The court ruled that the woman had acted deliberately and that she should have known babies can die if shaken too hard. The public prosecution department had called for a six year jail term.

The woman had admitted shaking the one-year-old child after it cried continually for 45 minutes. She also admitted to placing the baby, a girl, in bed and after checking on her later, found she was unconscious. The baby died two days later in hospital.

After telling her husband what had happened, the perpetrator was persuaded to hand herself over to the police.

The baby and her brother were looked after by the woman twice a week.